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Spinal cord neurons that control pain and itchThe spinal cord transmits pain signals to the brain, where they are consciously perceived. But not all the impulses arrive at their destination: Certain neurons act as checkpoints and determine whether a pain signal is relayed or not. Researchers from UZH identified these neurons and their connections. Moreover, they developed means to specifically activate these neurons, which reduces not only pain – but astonishingly also alleviates itch.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-03-spinal-cord-neurons-pain.html
NeuroscienceThu, 19 Mar 2015 09:00:03 EDTnews345973206Understanding how neurons shape memories of smellsIn a study that helps to deconstruct how olfaction is encoded in the brain, neuroscientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a type of neuron that appears to help tune, amplify and dampen neuronal responses to chemosensory inputs from the nasal cavity.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-03-neurons-memories.html
NeuroscienceMon, 09 Mar 2015 15:12:57 EDTnews345132763Researchers demonstrate optogenetic stimulation of the brain to control painA new study by a University of Texas at Arlington physics team in collaboration with bioengineering and psychology researchers shows for the first time how a small area of the brain can be optically stimulated to control pain.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-optogenetic-brain-pain.html
NeuroscienceThu, 26 Feb 2015 11:00:03 EDTnews344169535Inhibitory neuron functionality as a consequence of more complex network dynamicsThe two major types of neuron in the brain's cerebral cortex are connected by intricate cortical circuits that process information. Excitatory neurons, which comprise 80 percent of all neurons in this region, increase activity in target cells. The other 20 percent of neurons are inhibitory, producing the opposite effect.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-12-inhibitory-neuron-functionality-consequence-complex.html
NeuroscienceFri, 12 Dec 2014 07:22:18 EDTnews337591320Waking up the visual systemThe ways that neurons in the brain respond to a given stimulus depends on whether an organism is asleep, drowsy, awake, paying careful attention or ignoring the stimulus. However, while the properties of neural circuits in the visual cortex are well known, the mechanisms responsible for the different patterns of activity in the awake and drowsy states remain poorly understood. A team of researchers led by Tadaharu Tsumoto from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute has observed the changes in activity that occur in rodents on waking from anesthesia.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-10-visual.html
NeuroscienceFri, 03 Oct 2014 09:15:06 EDTnews331546499'Dimmer switch' for mood disorders discoveredResearchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a control mechanism for an area of the brain that processes sensory and emotive information that humans experience as "disappointment."http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-dimmer-mood-disorders.html
NeuroscienceThu, 18 Sep 2014 14:00:23 EDTnews330252625Emotions in the brainThis year has been a busy one for biologist David Anderson, Caltech's Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology. In 2014 alone, Anderson's lab has reported finding neurons in the male fly brain that promote fighting and, in the mouse brain, identified a "seesaw" circuit that controls the transition between social and asocial behaviors, neurons that control aggressive behavior, a neural circuit that controls anxiety, and a network of cells that switches appetite on and off.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-emotions-brain.html
NeuroscienceWed, 17 Sep 2014 06:38:48 EDTnews330154718Tipping the balance of behavior(Medical Xpress)—Humans with autism often show a reduced frequency of social interactions and an increased tendency to engage in repetitive solitary behaviors. Autism has also been linked to dysfunction of the amygdala, a brain structure involved in processing emotions. Now Caltech researchers have discovered antagonistic neuron populations in the mouse amygdala that control whether the animal engages in social behaviors or asocial repetitive self-grooming. This discovery may have implications for understanding neural circuit dysfunctions that underlie autism in humans.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-09-behavior.html
NeuroscienceThu, 11 Sep 2014 16:57:07 EDTnews329673309Stop and listen: Study shows how movement affects hearingWhen we want to listen carefully to someone, the first thing we do is stop talking. The second thing we do is stop moving altogether. This strategy helps us hear better by preventing unwanted sounds generated by our own movements.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-08-movement-affects.html
NeuroscienceWed, 27 Aug 2014 13:17:48 EDTnews328364254Neuroscientists show how neurons respond to sequences of familiar objectsThe world grows increasingly more chaotic year after year, and our brains are constantly bombarded with images. A new study from Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint project between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, reveals how neurons in the part of the brain responsible for recognizing objects respond to being shown a barrage of images. The study is published online by Nature Neuroscience.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-08-neuroscientists-neurons-sequences-familiar.html
NeuroscienceSun, 24 Aug 2014 13:00:03 EDTnews328035377Study helps explain why elderly have trouble sleepingAs people grow older, they often have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, and tend to awaken too early in the morning. In individuals with Alzheimer's disease, this common and troubling symptom of aging tends to be especially pronounced, often leading to nighttime confusion and wandering.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-08-elderly.html
NeuroscienceWed, 20 Aug 2014 03:40:59 EDTnews327724662Transplantation of new brain cells reverses memory loss in Alzheimer's disease modelA new study from the Gladstone Institutes has revealed a way to alleviate the learning and memory deficits caused by apoE4, the most important genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, improving cognition to normal levels in aged mice.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-07-transplantation-brain-cells-reverses-memory.html
Alzheimer's disease & dementiaWed, 16 Jul 2014 02:40:01 EDTnews324694281Dodging dots helps explain brain circuitry(Medical Xpress)—A neuroscience study provides new insight into the primal brain circuits involved in collision avoidance, and perhaps a more general model of how neurons can participate in networks to process information and act on it.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-07-dodging-dots-brain-circuitry.html
NeuroscienceMon, 07 Jul 2014 15:02:29 EDTnews323964130Neuroscientists inhibit muscle contractions by shining light on spinal cord neuronsFor the first time, MIT neuroscientists have shown they can control muscle movement by applying optogenetics—a technique that allows scientists to control neurons' electrical impulses with light—to the spinal cords of animals that are awake and alert.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-neuroscientists-inhibit-muscle-spinal-cord.html
NeuroscienceThu, 26 Jun 2014 07:17:21 EDTnews322985828The brain's balancing act: Researchers discover how neurons equalize between excitation and inhibitionResearchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a fundamental mechanism by which the brain maintains its internal balance. The mechanism, described in the June 22 advanced online publication of the journal Nature, involves the brain's most basic inner wiring and the processes that control whether a neuron relays information to other neurons or suppresses the transmission of information.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-brain-neurons-equalize-inhibition.html
NeuroscienceSun, 22 Jun 2014 13:00:07 EDTnews322589161Cutting edge methods reveal what makes Purkinje neurons uniqueIn a collaboration between RIKEN's Brain Science Institute and Center for Life Science Technologies in Japan, scientists combined cutting edge methods to obtain a comprehensive catalogue of proteins that are manufactured in specific parts of Purkinje neurons.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-edge-methods-reveal-purkinje-neurons.html
NeuroscienceThu, 05 Jun 2014 13:30:27 EDTnews321193815Neural transplant reduces absence epilepsy seizures in miceNew research from North Carolina State University pinpoints the areas of the cerebral cortex that are affected in mice with absence epilepsy and shows that transplanting embryonic neural cells into these areas can alleviate symptoms of the disease by reducing seizure activity. The work may help identify the areas of the human brain affected in absence epilepsy and lead to new therapies for sufferers.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-neural-transplant-absence-epilepsy-seizures.html
NeuroscienceThu, 29 May 2014 14:01:10 EDTnews320590858Learning brakes in the brainA brain capable of learning is important for survival: only those who learn can endure in the natural world. When it learns, the brain stores new information by changing the strength of the junctions that connect its nerve cells. This process is referred to as synaptic plasticity. Scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, working with researchers from Basel, have demonstrated for the first time that inhibitory neurons need to be at least partly blocked during learning. This disinhibition is a bit like taking the foot off the brake in a car: if the inhibitory neurons are less active, learning is accelerated.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-brain.html
NeuroscienceTue, 13 May 2014 06:24:58 EDTnews319181051Good vibrations: Cortical oscillations modulated by sensory, environmental, internal, and volitional inputs(Medical Xpress)—Cortical information is carried by axonal spike timing, which is also a key factor in synaptic plasticity. Spike timing, in turn, can be synchronized by cortical oscillations, thereby regulating cortical information processing. That said, oscillations in the cerebral cortex are the subject of much debate – and in the case of their regulatory mechanisms, not well understood. Addressing this problem, scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of California at San Diego used a model cortical circuit to propose that such a regulatory mechanism links the dynamical state of the cortex to interactions between sensory and behavioral context during information processing. Moreover, their proposed regulatory mechanism explains a wide range of heretofore paradoxical empirical results.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-good-vibrations-cortical-oscillations-modulated.html
NeuroscienceThu, 01 May 2014 12:30:01 EDTnews318163087Low doses of antianxiety drugs rebalance the autistic brainNew research in mice suggests that autism is characterized by reduced activity of inhibitory neurons and increased activity of excitatory neurons in the brain, but balance can be restored with low doses of a well-known class of drugs currently used in much higher doses to treat anxiety and epileptic seizures. The findings, which are reported in the March 19th issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron, point to a new therapeutic approach to managing autism.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-03-doses-antianxiety-drugs-rebalance-autistic.html
NeuroscienceWed, 19 Mar 2014 12:00:02 EDTnews314439978Research reveals first glimpse of brain circuit that helps experience to shape perceptionOdors have a way of connecting us with moments buried deep in our past. Maybe it is a whiff of your grandmother's perfume that transports you back decades. With that single breath, you are suddenly in her living room, listening as the adults banter about politics. The experiences that we accumulate throughout life build expectations that are associated with different scents. These expectations are known to influence how the brain uses and stores sensory information. But researchers have long wondered how the process works in reverse: how do our memories shape the way sensory information is collected?http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-03-reveals-glimpse-brain-circuit-perception.html
NeuroscienceSun, 02 Mar 2014 13:00:02 EDTnews312973384Research pinpoints neural circuitry that promotes stress-induced anxietyAccording to the National Institute of Mental Health, over 18 percent of American adults suffer from anxiety disorders, characterized as excessive worry or tension that often leads to other physical symptoms. Previous studies of anxiety in the brain have focused on the amygdala, an area known to play a role in fear. But a team of researchers led by biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) had a hunch that understanding a different brain area, the lateral septum (LS), could provide more clues into how the brain processes anxiety. Their instincts paid off—using mouse models, the team has found a neural circuit that connects the LS with other brain structures in a manner that directly influences anxiety.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-01-neural-circuitry-stress-induced-anxiety.html
NeuroscienceThu, 30 Jan 2014 13:54:47 EDTnews310312475What happens when synapses run out of transmitter?(Medical Xpress)—The recent Nobel Prize Award in Medicine highlights the importance of vesicle-based transport for different kinds of cells. One of the recipients, Thomas Sudhof, has contributed extensively to our current understanding of vesicle function in the synapses of neurons. Despite the fact that this is one of the most studied areas in neuroscience, we don't have a satisfactory theory that explains why information, ostensibly represented in high-fidelity using precisely timed spike trains, is then transferred with a low-fidelity, probabilistic mechanism that uses soft sacks of chemicals. A paper recently published in the journal Neuron, takes a closer look at this process in inhibitory neurons of the hippocampus. The authors find that if neurons continue to spike beyond a certain rate for a long enough time, their vesicles may still retain their potential for to fuse at release sites, but the synapse eventually runs out of transmitter to fill them with. Furthermore, they show that if the synapse can not supply sufficient transmitter, either through transport from the soma, or through local metabolic processing and uptake, then the synapse adapts by reducing the number of cycling vesicles.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-synapses-transmitter.html
NeuroscienceWed, 09 Oct 2013 10:50:01 EDTnews300531756Neuroscientists identify class of cortical inhibitory neurons that specialize in disinhibitionNew research now reveals that one class of inhibitory neurons—called VIP interneurons—specializes in inhibiting other inhibitory neurons in multiple regions of cortex, and does so under specific behavioral conditions. The new research finds that VIP interneurons, when activated, release principal cells from inhibition, thus boosting their responses. This provides an additional layer of control over cortical processing, much like a dimmer switch can fine-tune light levels.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-neuroscientists-class-cortical-inhibitory-neurons.html
NeuroscienceSun, 06 Oct 2013 13:00:08 EDTnews300277447Competing impairment of neurons governs pathology of a severe form of epilepsyDravet syndrome is a rare and severe form of epilepsy caused primarily by inherited loss-of-function mutations in a gene called SCN1A. This gene encodes a sodium ion channel known as Nav1.1 and is required for the proper function of brain cells. However, exactly which neurons go awry in the brains of Dravet syndrome sufferers remains poorly understood.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-09-impairment-neurons-pathology-severe-epilepsy.html
NeuroscienceFri, 20 Sep 2013 09:10:02 EDTnews298886398Researchers discover how inhibitory neurons behave during critical periods of learningWe've all heard the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Now neuroscientists are beginning to explain the science behind the adage.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-08-inhibitory-neurons-critical-periods.html
NeuroscienceSun, 25 Aug 2013 13:00:09 EDTnews296636330Re-learning how to see: Researchers find a crucial on-off switch in visual developmentA discovery by a University of Maryland-led research team offers hope for treating "lazy eye" and other serious visual problems that are usually permanent unless they are corrected in early childhood.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-08-re-learning-crucial-on-off-visual.html
NeuroscienceThu, 01 Aug 2013 15:05:24 EDTnews294588292'Should I stay or should I go?' Neuroscientists link brain cell types to behaviorNeuroscientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, led by Assistant Professor Adam Kepecs, have linked the activity of two types of brain nerve cells, neurons, to decisions made during particular type of behavior. The team studied the activity of two types of inhibitory neurons in mice making decisions searching for food in a test area. They found distinct patterns of activity that marked when "stay" or to "go" foraging decisions were made.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-neuroscientists-link-brain-cell-behavior.html
NeuroscienceSun, 26 May 2013 13:00:08 EDTnews288783891Researchers cure epilepsy in mice using brain cellsUCSF scientists controlled seizures in epileptic mice with a one-time transplantation of medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) cells, which inhibit signaling in overactive nerve circuits, into the hippocampus, a brain region associated with seizures, as well as with learning and memory. Other researchers had previously used different cell types in rodent cell transplantation experiments and failed to stop seizures.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-epilepsy-mice-brain-cells.html
NeuroscienceSun, 05 May 2013 13:00:27 EDTnews286953942Scientists learn more about how inhibitory brain cells get excitedScientists have found an early step in how the brain's inhibitory cells get excited.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-inhibitory-brain-cells.html
NeuroscienceWed, 30 Jan 2013 13:16:39 EDTnews278774191